I need to vent

[Kins123]

Ok, so we were given a PHP assignment in October last year to basically create a student/course management site which gets information from a MySQL database and has various features. So I spent months doing this, I read several books to figure out how I was going to create this site. I added dozens of features, all the features we had to include plus a load that we didn't. I did my best to keep everything secure. I had config files so that just about anything on the site can be changed, I created a templating system so the user can create their own visual interfaces. It had a logging system which tells you when people log in or when they try to log in and locks them out after 3 failed attempts. It records their IP and gives a link to do a WHOIS on it. And has loads of other features. I was extremely happy with it and the whole assignment is over 20 files and must have several thousand lines of code. Sooo...

Basically the rest of the class started this assignment 2 weeks ago, 1 week before it was due. Most of the class were really struggling with it so I decided to help them, I went in on my days off and basically went through the whole assignment with them, I even gave them bits of my code. I was feeling really happy having helped them, I didn't want anyone to fail or anything. I should also add that most of the other assignments didn't have half the features mine did or even an interface to make it look good. And they could all of been hacked in literally seconds (nothing checks to see whether the user is logged in before displaying a 'protected' page).

I'm sure you know where this is going...

So our lecturer marked the assignments and posted them, and I got fucking 65%! I was really hoping for a good grade having spent months on this. I was speaking to some of the people in my class. And guess what? One of the people I helped do the whole assignment got a higher fucking mark than me! 79%!! It's really pissed me off because without my help they would of probably failed!

Sorry. I just really needed to vent somewhere. I'm seriously considering ditching the course. It's a total shambles.

 

[Jannus]

Go tell your instructor exactly what you just posted above. Explain to him why you think you deserve a better grade.

It probably won't make that much difference in your grade, but you should do it, nevertheless.

In the states, it is common at the end of a course for the students to fill out an evaluation form, explaining what you liked/disliked/got out of the class/wished had been included, etc. If you get that opportunity, blast away, explaining what happened and why you thought it unfair.

When I was in college, I was a good student. I attended one of the most respected private universities in the US on an academic scholarship. I had one English composition class where the instructor had a reputation of giving all "Bs". I would put a great deal of effort into my compositions, spending many hours on them and polishing them to great finesse, IMO. I would come to class early and find students there who BEGAN THEIR COMPOSITION ASSIGNMENTS IN THE 15 MINUTES BEFORE THE START OF THE CLASS WHERE THEY WERE DUE! I would get the same grade they got, inevitably, a "B"! It made me furious. Sure, maybe my work wasn't as great as I believed, but there is no question that it was much, much, better than what some of those students did in 15 minutes (I helped some of them occasionally, and I saw what they turned in!). I blasted that instructor royally on the class evaluation form, and I was very specific about the things I thought unfair. I don't know that it made much difference in the end, but that was 30 years ago, and I still feel good about having done that!

 

[CGHJ]

Kins, that is sorely fucked up. You're taking it better than I would have, even. That would seriously, seriously piss me off and I would...

A) go to the instructor and ask "what up?" and if I didn't like the answer I would
B) go to their supervisor and explain "what up"

Man, I'm pissed off for you now. Go fix that shit!

 

[Corny]

you described a lot of features. but what was required in the assignment? they don't need to value all the extras, and only give points for the wanted part. ask your instructor how the percentages is composed, and what you can do to do better next time. every reasonable teacher/prof will explain you why he gave you this points and in which areas. try to be civil, if you feel like it you can mention that you have seen the work of others, and that yours compared to theirs is much more complex and in depth and ask if that is a criteria.

PS: i'm also a last days guy and i usually get away with it real good but the thing is that i don't have to read books etc in most cases because i am usually doing things like that since years.

 

[xaybzc]

hey i too had similar probs...there were people tellin me they did it wrong and i'm sure i did it correctly.and i never asked why i got the lower grade and you know at times i ask myself why i didn't ask..and then this year faced a similar situation and i asked the staff and i got a full(oh i knew the staff well this time)...anyway it would be better if you know just why you got low and it might inspire you to do better ,(you know instead of felling "i'll get a low just like last time" when you do the next one)!!!

 

[trawler69]

Sadly this is often the way of things. You may well have done an overall far better job at creating a usable piece of software. However the tutors may only have been looking at specific aspects of it and either ignored or been ignorant of the clever stuff you had done.

Knowing the college you go to there could also be an element of "nobody likes a smart ass." That attitude really sucks when someone has tried really hard to do well and is penalised because of it, but I know people who have gone there who have told me that this does happen.

 

[Kins123]

Cheers for all the advice everyone.

If this was an isolated case then I wouldn't mind so much but things like this have happened before. For example, on one assignment we had to build a portfolio website (and had to be online) to basically give information about us as well as show off some examples of work we have done such as images, videos, sound, flash etc. So I spent ages building this site, using meaningful standard compliant markup and CSS. I put quite a few bits of work I had done for people in the assignment, such as logo's and advertising material. Guess what I got? 20%! And it wasn't just me who failed, it was 3/4 of the class!! My 2 and a half page evaluation got 5%. To me, if 3/4 of the class fail then that is a problem with lecturers not the students, right? It turns out that we weren't being marked on the actual website which everyone put a lot of effort into (he never told us this) and also we got out of him that we would of got marks for say doing 20 crap images than 10 really good ones.

The course is new and I believe ours is the first college in the country to run it and of course there will be a few problems, but I don't believe it's an excuse for lecturers who have a complete lack of knowledge on what they are teaching. Our Java lecturer who started learning it himself a few weeks before he started teaching us! The HTML lecturer who doesn't know what XHTML is and still uses tables for design.

God, I'm making my college sound really bad. But it is a great college which has won awards. Most of the lecturers are really nice people, just a bit out of date on what they know.

A quote from Andy Budd about the web comes to mind:

In my experience university courses are largely useless in our line of work. Things change very quickly and you really need to be in the industry to know what is going on. Lecturers are often people who used to work in the web 5+ years ago and are no longer up on the latest skills. Furthermore courses are planned years in advance, so are always a good few years out of date.

The group I'm in is really great, I don't think I would of lasted this long with a rubbish one. We all help each other out and are all friends.

By the way here are the assignment tasks:

1. Design and implement the following front end scripts:
a. A logon system that allows three attempts to access the mark book after which an entry is placed in the access file as an attempted break in.
This entry should show any relevant detail such as the IP address of the machine. (15 marks)
b. A data entry screen for student details including relevant data validation checks, with essential fields indicated, any missing data must be supplied and the user notified of its absence. (25 marks)
c. A data entry screen for student results including relevant data validation checks, with essential fields indicated, any missing data must be supplied and the user notified of its absence. (25 marks)
d. A menu of five static quieries of varying complexity. (20 marks)
i. To show the personal details of a given student;
ii. To show the assessment details of a given student for a named unit;
iii. To show the module results, averages etc for a named student who has completed the FdSc;
iv. To show a summary of all module results, averages etc for each stage;
e. A free text box that allows the user to enter quieries for execution. (15 marks)

I need to think what I want to do, I'm off until October so have plenty of time!

 

[thermodynamics]

I've dealt with the same problem, though not to the same degree at all.

I usually just get lots of questions about how to do things, sometimes going farther and basically doing the assignment for them.

I quit "doing other people's assignments" many years ago. I learned how much I could be taken advantage of. Now, I basically limit my help to answering specific questions that people have.

 

[Kins123]

Also, I really don't mind helping other people. It's a great feeling when you help someone understand something. And if I help them then they are more likely to help me if I ever need it. I also feel like I'm learning more about the subject when helping others.

 

[trawler69]

Kins if I was younger I would give you a hug as I know and appreciate where you are coming from. I have been there myself.

 

[_AJ_]

just some advice for the future

try to do only what is required of you and do that well
maybe ask you prof for a more detailed guideline of what is required you may have lost marks for adding to much and making it confusing who knows

i know i lost marks in reports because of adding to much writing and it being confusing